Australia

Executive Summary: Public M&A activity in Australia has been patchy during 2011. Notably, the mining sector was more subdued than anticipated, with companies deploying stockpiled cash into growth projects, dividends or share buy-backs. Upon the recommendation of the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB), the Federal Treasurer rejected the proposed merger of ASX with Singapore Exchange … Continued

The attached slides summarize trends in cross-border M&A and strategic investment activity throughout the first quarter of 2011.   Highlights: Global M&A volume for Q1 2011 was US$671.8 billion, up 29.5% as compared to Q1 2010. Cross-border transactions have rebounded substantially from 2009: 38% of Q1 2011 global M&A was cross-border — up slightly from … Continued